Why is the 86-year-old performer taking on King’s family in court? Belafonte is attempting to regain ownership of several documents which he says he was given by his friend, King, and which he had been planning to auction off for charity. This legal scuffle has been going on for some time, as Belafonte attempted to auction the documents in 2008 but was stymied by King’s daughter Bernice, who alleged that they had been “wrongfully acquired.”

The various documents, according to the Post, came to Belafonte through a variety of channels. Belafonte had a condolence letter that President-at-the-time Lyndon Johnson had written to King’s wife Coretta after King’s death, which was given to him by Coretta herself in 2003. A former King aide gave him the notes for a never-delivered speech King had on his person when he was assassinated. And Belafonte was handed a speech King gave in 1967 speaking out against American involvement in Vietnam by King himself. “Dr. King was a regular guest at Mr. Belafonte’s Manhattan apartment: he worked, socialized and rested there,” the suit states. “Not surprisingly, during their long time together, Mr. Belafonte came to own documents associated with Dr. King and his widow.”

Belafonte says all the documents combined are worth a total of about $1.3 million (so, a little less than two former Kim Kardashian engagement rings) and he wants the money to go to charity. His suit, filed yesterday in Manhattan court, says that he wants to “resolve [this] once and for all.” He’s looking for unspecified damages, and also some sort of court-ordered pronouncement that he is the rightful owner of the documents.

The items currently remain at Sotheby’s, where Belafonte had left them in 2008 to be assessed and valued, which is when Bernice claimed they had been “wrongfully acquired.” In the suit, Belafonte says there has been no elaboration from the King family in relation to this argument: “Not a scintilla of evidence was ever offered to support this claim, yet the Estate demanded the documents be turned over to them.” The King estate’s lawyer did not offer a comment, and told the Post he hasn’t seen the lawsuit.__Related: